What Li Yan didn't know was that at the same time he was hesitating, in a stone cave on the mountain peak deep behind the stone stele, a tall old man in gray sackcloth was sitting cross-legged on a prayer mat. His hair was completely silver, and his face was like a baby's. He let out a soft laugh. "It's this little doll again. He actually discovered that something was wrong with those Qi Condensation disciples. Truly interesting. Apart from Wuxing and the other Golden Core elders who discovered that there was something abnormal about the Supreme Mystery Teachings' Qi Condensation disciples, among the Foundation Establishment cultivators, only a dozen or so could discover some clues. Among the Qi Condensation cultivators, this kid is quite strange. I haven't seen him in a few years. How has the spiritual power of his miscellaneous spirit roots become even purer? Truly strange. His cultivation technique doesn't seem to be anything special." The old man still had some memory of this disciple with the Fragmented Poison Body.
"What is the Supreme Mystery Teachings' purpose in doing this? The variable in the Wheel of Life and Death should be on this batch of Qi Condensation disciples... Forget it, let Wuxing and the others handle it." The old man thought for a moment, then cast aside his thoughts and slowly closed his eyes again. His duty here was to prevent the passage entrance from being intentionally destroyed. You know, the Supreme Mystery Teachings and the Pure Land Sect had always been dissatisfied with the two secret realm passages in the Ten-Pace Courtyard and the Malevolent Spirit Sect. If they could secretly destroy them, even if it meant closing the secret realm, the Supreme Mystery Teachings and the Pure Land Sect were not incapable of doing it. After all, the entrances were in the hands of others. Who knew when the Ten-Pace Courtyard and the Malevolent Spirit Sect could secretly negotiate terms with the demonic beasts in the secret realm. If they were to secretly enter in the future, it would be very difficult for them to know, and the resources would be secretly divided by the two sects without a sound.
The purpose of the old man in gray sackcloth being here was to confirm if there was anything strange among the other side's Golden Core cultivators. As for whether they would destroy it from inside the passage, he wouldn't even consider it. This secret realm passage was set up by a Nascent Soul cultivator. A Golden Core cultivator would need the combined strength of dozens of people, or perhaps have a heaven-defying magical treasure to be able to complete this task. But in that case, not a single person in the passage would be able to live. Therefore, when both sides entered the passage, they needed to enter alternately. That way, the cultivators who entered first, those in the middle of teleportation, and those who had just entered would be mixed in a long pipeline. No one could escape the spatial turbulence created by the destruction. If a Nascent Soul Old Monster were to enter from the Ten-Pace Courtyard, it would also be impossible. A fourth-tier, peak-stage demonic beast was also stationed at the other end of the passage year-round, and it was the same on the Ten-Pace Courtyard's side. Any Nascent Soul Old Monster who entered would have to get past them first. And from the Ten-Pace Courtyard passage to the Malevolent Spirit Sect passage was almost a journey of tens of thousands of li across half the secret realm. During this period, the fourth-tier, peak-stage demonic beasts in the secret realm would have already surrounded them.
Since the old man in gray sackcloth did not find any hidden Nascent Soul Old Monsters among the arriving cultivators, he could already ignore this matter. He had no interest in this kind of competition between juniors. The old fellows just liked to watch these fledglings go through blood and fire. Only in this way could they truly become the pillars of the sect when they reached the Golden Core realm.
The old man in gray sackcloth had already seen that these three sects were probably trying to use this opportunity to cause losses to the Malevolent Spirit Sect's Foundation Establishment and Qi Condensation cultivators, so that in the next few decades, or even a hundred years, the lower-level cultivators of the Malevolent Spirit Sect would be cut off. In this way, even if the Malevolent Spirit Sect was not fundamentally damaged, in these few decades, the other few sects would at least have produced a few more generations of rising stars. But he did not remind them. As long as it was not a matter of life and death for the sect, or if the foundation of the sect was not moved, the Nascent Soul ancestors would not bother with these things. If even these things needed a Nascent Soul Old Ancestor to constantly care for and remind them, then there was no need for this sect to exist. The Golden Core elders also had to go through tempering. Only in this way could a sect last for a long time.
Li Yan only felt that the world before him was a bizarre kaleidoscope of black and white. He was dizzy and disoriented, and then he felt as if he had traveled through time and space, in a boundless space. His heart was filled with a sense of bewilderment. He didn't know what the future held. When he regained his senses, he felt his feet touch down on a slightly soft, solid ground.
Li Yan steadied himself. As he opened his eyes, he felt a suffocatingly dense spiritual energy rush toward him, making it a bit difficult to breathe. This made Li Yan overjoyed. You know, the spiritual energy in the Malevolent Spirit Sect was already extremely dense, which had already made Li Yan's cultivation twice as effective. He never would have thought that there was a place in this world with even denser spiritual energy.
What greeted Li Yan's eyes was a world of lush greenery. They were now standing on the edge of a grassland. On the endless grassland in front of them grew half-man-high, unknown green grass and wildflowers. The sky was a vast expanse of blue, and the sun shone down. Behind them was a large, dense jungle, with giant trees that several people couldn't wrap their arms around, stretching into the distance layer by layer.
From time to time, wild beasts and some low-level demonic beasts would run across the grassland in front. Some were hostile, some were curious, but seeing the large number of people on this side, they all moved far away, more than ten li away.
From the dense jungle behind, different roars could be heard from time to time, making some of the wild beasts on the edge of the jungle and on the grassland prick up their ears cautiously. Some wild beasts fled in fright, while some low-level demonic beasts stood deep in the grassland, as if in response or provocation, also roaring incessantly.
Li Yan looked at the grassland for a few moments. He recognized a very small number of the wild beasts, but he had never seen most of the wild beasts and demonic beasts. Birds and beasts roamed freely. Fortunately, there were many cultivators on his side, so it was very safe. He figured this was why those Golden Core cultivators had come in first. They should be securing this area to prevent the low-level disciples from becoming food for the demonic beasts as soon as they entered.
Li Yan, of course, did not know that there was a top-tier demonic beast here that was even more terrifying than any demonic beast he had seen now. It was just that the difference in realm was too great, and he had no sense of it at all when a powerful Divine Sense had swept over his body just as he came out of the black and white passage. This kind of feeling was something that only Golden Core cultivators would have a slight warning sign in their hearts. And this was only when the Nascent Soul and fourth-tier, peak-stage demonic beast deliberately revealed a little of their aura. The purpose was to make their leading Golden Core cultivators behave. It was just that the difference was that at the entrance of the passage, it was to make the Golden Core cultivators of the Supreme Mystery Teachings stick to the bottom line, and here, it was to make the Golden Core cultivators of both sides behave obediently.
After looking around, Li Yan greedily breathed in this spiritual energy that made even his pores tremble. He found that the ten of them were now standing in the middle of two camps. The black and white vortex behind them was still slowly rotating. After steadying themselves for a moment, the ten of them walked toward the side of the three elders of the Malevolent Spirit Sect, led by the beautiful Peak Mistress Li. As Li Yan passed by the Foundation Establishment camp, Li Wuyi's voice echoed in his ear, "Little Junior Brother, there seems to be something strange about the other side's Qi Condensation cultivators. This could be a trap set for your Wheel of Life and Death. You must be careful. The Golden Core Martial Uncles should have all seen it. I estimate they will find time to remind you again."
Li Yan couldn't help but pause in his steps. He thought to himself, 'So Eldest Senior Brother has also seen that something is wrong. It seems my perception was not mistaken.' He looked up to the side. Over there, Li Wuyi was talking in a low voice with a few Foundation Establishment cultivators and did not turn to look at him.
And so, before long, all the cultivators had arrived one after another. In the end, even the ten Golden Core elders from both sides had also entered this place. At this time, the black and white passage, as the vortex rotated, became smaller and smaller, and finally disappeared into the air, leaving no trace in the world.
The five elders led by Peng Buxing walked over. Their faces were all very tired. It was clear that the recent display had been a great burden on them as well. After Peng Buxing came in front of the Peak Mistress of Never-Parting Peak, he whispered a few words to the three of them, then looked up and waved his large hand. Li Yan and the others only felt the sky darken, as if something had blocked the sunlight. They all looked up and saw a ferocious monster appear in the air. This beast had a ghost face, its face covered in wrinkles, its skin as red as blood. A pair of green eyes rolled around. As it took to the air, it opened its mouth and let out a sharp cry, which actually drowned out the roars and hisses of the demonic beasts in the jungle behind and the grassland in front. Its large mouth was full of fine, sharp teeth, shining with a cold light. Its body was like a flood dragon, covered in fine scales. It had three claws under its body. After this beast came out, its body grew rapidly in the air, and in just a short while, it was several dozen zhang in size. Then, Elder Peng leaped onto the ferocious ghost head and shouted lightly, "Hurry up and get on." Then, the other elders also leaped up. Li Yan and the others followed suit and took to the air, pouncing on the strange beast.
At the same time, on the other side, Immortal Elder Hangwu was also talking in a low voice with the ten Golden Core cultivators who had arrived earlier. Occasionally, some of them would look over here. Just as Elder Peng released the strange beast, they also stopped talking. The next moment, that huge boat appeared in the air again, and the people of the Supreme Mystery Teachings also took to the air and flew toward the huge boat.
Amidst the low roar of the huge strange beast, it had already quickly flown up to a height of several hundred zhang, and then with a flick of its tail, it shot into the depths of the grassland. Its momentum was extremely fast. This action caused the nearby demonic beasts to roar even more at the sky, but no demonic beast pursued or followed.
That huge boat was not a fraction of a bit slower than the strange beast. After pulling up, the body of the boat shone with a dazzling light, and a huge ball of light also roared away.
The strange beast's body of several dozen zhang made it so that Li Yan's hundred-man team did not feel crowded at all standing on it. Just as they took off, Elder Peng waved his hand, and a large red canopy covered the entire strange beast. Although the white clouds below were quickly pulling away, and the speed was terrifying, it did not make the people standing on it feel the slightest bit of wind or instability.
Li Yan looked at the strange beast under his feet and thought to himself, this strange beast's aura is so ferocious. It must be at least a second-tier, or even a third-tier demonic beast. It's just that I don't know how many divine abilities this beast has. Its speed alone is a great innate divine ability. I imagine a Foundation Establishment cultivator would not be able to catch up to it.
As Li Yan was curiously sizing up the strange beast, a deep voice echoed in his ear, "There is a problem with the aura of the Supreme Mystery Teachings' Qi Condensation disciples. And they are almost all at the late stage of the tenth layer of Qi Condensation, and even many at the perfected stage. The journey of the Wheel of Life and Death may be quite dangerous. It seems we have fallen into a trap set by the other side. We only knew that the Ten-Pace Courtyard, the Supreme Mystery Teachings, and the Pure Land Sect had some scheme. The sect previously thought it was aimed at the Foundation Establishment cultivators, but seeing them today, there are not too many suspicious points about the Supreme Mystery Teachings' Foundation Establishment Daoists. Instead, there is a problem with the Qi Condensation cultivators. When we meet the other two sects later, if a similar situation arises, then it can be confirmed that the three sides have joined forces without a doubt."
Hearing this, Li Yan looked up and saw that all the elders in front had turned their heads. The one who spoke was Elder Peng. His expression was extremely grave. Elder Peng paused, swept his gaze over the crowd, and then continued, "If that is really the case, we can give up on the Wheel of Life and Death this time. After all, only a small half of you are above the late stage of the tenth layer of Qi Condensation. It would be very disadvantageous to encounter them. This is also the result of my discussion with the other elders. The consequences will be explained by us to the sect. But this time, apart from the secret realm harvest which can benefit us, the other opportunities can only be left for the three sects and the demonic beasts to compete for."
At this point, the faces of the eight elders were all very ugly. Although they had discovered it outside, they could not find so many cultivators above the late stage of the tenth layer of Qi Condensation in a short time, and they had to be skilled in combat. This also made them extremely puzzled. In the end, they all believed that the other side had probably used some medicine to stimulate them. But in this way, apart from gaining benefits in this competition, these cultivators who were stimulated by medicine would likely have no hope of entering the Foundation Establishment realm in the future. What was the meaning of this?
"You can of course also choose to fight. The battles of my Malevolent Spirit Sect do not rely solely on realm. What's more, in the Wheel of Life and Death, only two teams can fight at a time. In this way, there is still a glimmer of hope," Elder Peng raised his voice, and then his cold eyes swept over the crowd, including of course the Foundation Establishment cultivators. The Wheel of Life and Death also required three Foundation Establishment cultivators to enter together. At that time, if the main combat force of a certain team—the Qi Condensation cultivators—were all killed, this Foundation Establishment cultivator would basically also have to die with them. After all, his opponent would be a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the same rank and the siege of several experts above the late stage of the tenth layer of Qi Condensation. As long as the opponent's Foundation Establishment cultivator could hold him off, the others could finish the job.